The present invention relates to a hand-held reader of an optical code.
With the term optical code it is intended to indicate a set of graphic signs (placed either on a label or directly on a product or on any other support) by means of which a piece of information is coded as a sequence of white areas and black areas or areas of various colours, arranged along one or more directions. Examples of such codes are bar codes, two-dimensional codes, colour codes and others.
The reading of optical codes can take place by means of fixed or hand-held readers (reading devices). The latter are provided with a reading casing (or shell) with a window (or mouth) through which there are active both means that illuminate the code to be read, and means that read the image of the illuminated code detecting the light diffused by it and transforming it into electrical signals.
A reader of this type, generally, is provided with a shell with an angled shape that allows it to be handled in an ergonomic manner and that has, along the optical path, a mirror capable of directing the light diffused by the code on a photoelectric transducer. The photo-electric transducer emits an electrical signal that is sent to a data processing circuit capable of decoding the information contained in the optical code.
In the known readers, the mirror is mounted in a special seat of the shell and fastened by means of screws. Between the seat and the mirror there is interposed a rubber gasket that has the object of avoiding misalignments and breakages when the reader falls down. A drawback, this, that occurs with great frequency as the readers are hand-held.
Thus, the fastening of the mirror in its seat by means of screws and gasket involves the use of a fair number of components and this makes the operations of assembling the readers somewhat laborious. This involves increases in the readers' manufacturing costs.
The object of the present invention is to simplify the assembling of a hand-held reader of an optical code and to make the constraint of the mirror in the shell more secure.
The abovementioned object, according to the invention, is attained with a hand-held reader of an optical code comprising a shell wherein there is mounted a mirror capable of deflecting light diffused by said optical code, characterized in that it comprises a spring element capable of elastically supporting said mirror in said shell, said spring element being formed by a central plate capable of housing said mirror and provided with two fins protruding laterally, each of said fins comprising a first portion inclined with respect to said central plate by a first preselected angle so that it remains raised with respect to said mirror and a second portion folded over with respect to said first portion by a second preselected angle, said second portion being provided with connecting means capable of engaging in a disconnectable manner a supporting element integral with said shell.
In the reader of an optical code according to the invention, the mirror is mounted elastically in the shell by means of the spring element and, when the reader falls down, it can move freely with respect to the shell, but without leaving its seat. Thus, it does not break and it automatically returns to the correct position, avoiding misalignments in the optical path of the beam of diffused light.
Thus, just one component formed by the spring element performs several functions: it acts as a fastening and positioning means of the mirror in the shell and it serves as a shock absorber when the reader falls down.
Since the elastic mount of the mirror in the shell is executed by means of a single component, the assembling of the reader is considerably simplified, with a significant drop in manufacturing costs.
Features and advantages of the invention will now be illustrated with reference to an embodiment represented as a non-limitative example in the enclosed drawings, wherein: